This invention relates to a protective garment for partially covering the clothing of an individual. The garment is useful, for example, for protecting and shielding the wearer""s clothes from paint spatters and drips; however, it has application in any environment wherein clothing can be dirtied or stained.
It is well known to provide protective or outer garments of various kinds to protect or shield the wearer""s clothing. Some of these garments, for example, can be in the form of aprons, chaps and the like which serve to protect the front of the individual. Chaps are typically releasably secured to the legs of the individual by straps and other types of connectors which must be manually manipulated to apply or remove the garment. This can be a tiresome and relatively time consuming procedure in some cases.
The following patents disclose protective outerwear or garments which are believed to be representative of the current state of the prior art: U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,215, issued Mar. 20, 2001, U.S. Pat. No. 5,375,262, issued Dec. 27, 1994, U.S. Pat. No. 4,984,303, issued Jan. 15, 1991, U.S. Pat. No. 3,517,394, issued Jun. 30, 1970, U.S. Pat. No. 2,555,786, issued Jun. 5, 1951, U.S. Pat. No. 1,478,349, issued Dec. 18, 1923, U.S. Pat. No. 1,411,562, issued Apr. 4, 1922, U.S. Pat. No. 1,404,987, issued Jan. 31,1922, U.S. Pat. No. DES.399,336, issued Oct. 13, 1998, and U.S. Pat. No. DES.321,969, issued Dec. 3, 1991.
The protective garment of the present invention is easy to put on and to remove. The garment is characterized by its relative simplicity and effectiveness as well as by its ease of use.
The protective garment of this invention is for partially covering the clothing of an individual.
The protective garment includes an apron portion and apron portion securement means for releasably securing the apron portion to the waist of an individual.
A pair of flexible leg protector members depends from and extends downwardly from the apron portion for positioning over the front of the legs of the individual when the apron portion is releasably secured to the individual""s waist by the apron portion securement means.
The leg protector members include upper leg protector member portions which do not extend completely about the individual""s legs and lower leg protector member portions connected to said upper leg protector member portions which extend substantially completely about the individual""s legs. Each of the lower leg protector member portions has distal ends positionable in back of the individual""s legs.
Resilient securement means is connected to the lower leg protector member portions to releasably maintain the distal ends thereof in position in back of the individual""s legs to releasably secure the lower leg protector member portions to the individual""s legs.